Really cold water.

[Brandon12]

So i have a two foot savannah who occasionally sleeps in his water dish. Sometimes when i poke my head in, the water he's in is ice cold. Is this bad? Should i take the dish out at night? or just let him sleep?

 

[Toby_H]

how/why is it "ice cold"?

Can you take actual day/night temps so we can give better suggestions...

 

[Brandon12]

Well his tank is a little small at the moment due to a problem with his bigger one. His basking is about 106 And the rest is 80 or so. He doesnt have a source of night time heat. His substrate right now is at about 63, the lights have been out for 6 hours or so. The water always seems to be colder than everything else but he still gets in it to sleep.

 

[Toby_H]

I certainly would not pull th ewater out every night. That is just too impractical plus it sounds like he likes sleepign in the water...

I would heat the water. I have an (approx) 5 gal water container containing 4 gal of water for my Tegu. It has a 50W aquarium heater in it and it easily keeps the water 85*F. I also use an aquarium powerhead (pump) to filter the water to some degree. Though I still remove, clean and replace the water pan about once a week...

I've also found water in an enclosure is always a couple of degrees cooler than the water.

 

[Brandon12]

I have a small litter pan for a water dish so a heater wouldn't work. as i said the tank he's currently in is quite small, and a bigger tub would take up a lot of space that really isn't there. he is only two feet long so it doesnt take much to curl up in it. Would the cold have any negative effects?

 

[latshki]

what's your humidity at? as savs don't usually like water

the humidity should be at around 60 or so much like a tegu

 

[Brandon12]

The humidity varies. it usually sits around 40 but much higher in the hide. its been up to 80 but it's quite difficult to keep it that high in the enclosure. when he was little and in an aquarium the sides would be fogged from the humidity and he would still chill in the water for long periods during the day, and sleep there most nights. He loves bath time, even just a little soak in the sink.

 

[chelvis]

Have you ever done a fecal on him? I just ask becuase some reptiles will soak for long periods of time if they worms or other paricites. I dont know why. Maybe they constantly feel dehydrated or it helps make them feel better, i dont know.

As for the coldness factor maybe he feels the need to cool down at night? It does seems strange that he would activly sit in a water tube durning the coldness of the night. As for will it do any harm, if the temp drops to low and he does not bask enough the night before than there is a chanc of slowly shuting down his matbolism and having issues with improper food digestion.

 

[montana]

Take the water out at night and replace with fresh the next morning ....

Increase humidity in the mulch ....

My guess is you will find a dead lizard in the water bowl if you don`t ...

 

[Toby_H]

I'd say if he is spending that much time in the water, then he wants/needs the water. find a way to heat it...

Giving more specific details of the enclosure and water dish will help us give you practical suggestions of how to do that.

 

[thomasjg23]

Vet check for parasites for sure. then if he checks out heat the water and let him keep it.

 

[Toby_H]

Vet check for parasites for sure. then if he checks out heat the water and let him keep it.

Great point! I thought of that last night but failed to mention it.

Often animals that have external parasites will submerge themselves for extended periods of time in order to drown the parasites.

 

[eddyjack]

I don't know anything about "Savanna's" however, if they are anything like "Tegu's", each has a very different personality. I would never hesitate to or discourage from seeing a veterinarian but I think you might simply have a lizzard that likes water. If it didn't like water, cold or otherwise, it probably would not spend any time in it esspecially during sleep time.

 

[Rhetoric]

My savy went through a phase where s/he would sleep in its water dish. I kept a heating pad underneath the water dish (s/he's in a glass tank ATM). Do you think it could have something to do with shedding? Mine would usually do it right before a shed.. It HATES the bath tub but likes soaking in smaller tubs/dishes. I've recently gotten a larger water dish (a cat litter pan) and s/hes stopped sleeping in the water.
I would get it checked for parasites just to be on the safe side, I wasn't worried about mine because it had been checked shortly before sleeping in water had started.

 

[Brandon12]

Mine never stops shedding. Ever. I definitely believe it could be a shedding thing.